...the PH zero-waste city

Ten zero-waste cities: How Taguig in the Philippines became clean

By Sonia Henam, Swati Singh Sambyal

downtoearth.org

Last Updated: Wednesday 13 November 2019

Can we imagine a city in India without waste? Arguably, no. Rather our cities are drowning in their own wastes.

It is a big challenge now to collect, segregate and manage our waste in cities and towns. But there are cities across the world, including in India that have become completely waste-free.

They did so by adopting the ‘zero waste model’. This model is all about significantly reducing waste, eventually completely eliminating it.

Most of what we now waste can be safely and economically recycled, reused, composted, or turned into biogas through anaerobic digestion. It also creates a large number of well-paying jobs. Informal waste collectors are brought into the net and provided with decent earnings and dignity.

This is a unique model of solid waste management — frugal and generating wealth from waste. And it is successfully being implemented.

Down To Earth has curated a list of 10 cities across India and the world which are now ‘zero-waste’.

Taguig’s fight to be clean

The first among them is Taguig in the Philippines, which became clean mainly by segregating waste at source and diverting it. 

A few years back, the city, a barangay or community of metropolitan Manila, was known for its dumpsite, a vacant plot, where heaps of mixed waste from its households as well as those in its affluent neighbours landed.

Perhaps the best example of how Taguig’s transformation took place is one of its own barangays, Fort Bonifacio. The youngest barangay in Taguig, Fort Bonifacio had a population of about 11,739 according to the 2015 Census. It produces about 0.32 kilogram per capita per day of waste.

In 2009, Fort Bonifacio officials were facing challenges on managing its waste. They had limited resources and no clue from where to start the process of managing waste.

In order to address the increasing issue of solid waste, the city officials approached Mother Earth Foundation (MEF), a Filipino non-profit, for assistance.

In 2011, under the guidance of MEF, Fort Bonifacio officials visited barangays with the best RA 9003 (a legislation in the Philippines on SWM) practices such as Barangay Bagumbuhay in Quezon City; Teresa in Rizal; and Puerto Prinsesa in Palawan.

They then proceeded with a self-assessment and baseline survey, visiting each of Fort Bonifacio’s eight zones to scope out problem areas where waste accumulated.

The MEF trained barangay officials and project staff on waste analysis and characterisation study (WACS) and ecological solid waste management (ESWM). It followed this by conducting an intensive information education communication (IEC) campaign and finally setting up a materials recovery facility (MRF).

MEF and Fort Bonifacio formally launched ESWM in 2012 and the barangay passed an ordinance in full compliance with the national law on ESWM.

This ordinance formally established the barangay ecological solid waste management programme, mandating correct segregation, collection, recycling, and disposal, as well as an MRF site for the barangay. In 2014, the ordinances were updated to respond to new developments. This further helped the work on ground.

According to the WACS, organic waste comprised 40 per cent of the total waste in Fort Bonifacio, representing the amount that could easily be composted and converted into fertiliser, and thus diverted from the landfill. This showed that there was a value in waste, if segregated.

“Eighty per cent of the waste collected is diverted at the MRF and has 95 per cent household compliance rate,” Sonia Mendoza, chairman of MEF, said.

 Waste Composition in Brgy. Fort Bonifacio (2012)

“During the pilot, 15 informal waste pickers were trained and absorbed as official waste collectors of the barangay. Now, the waste pickers earn about PHP 8,000 (US$ 186) as compared to PHP 3,000 (US$ 70),” she added.

Mendoza said this also reduced the number of city trucks collecting waste from the barangay, from the daily average of four trips per day, down to only one trip per day, resulting in savings of around P10, 000 (US $195) per day for the city.

According to the GAIA report on Taguig city, waste diversion serves as an indicator for both income — as recyclables are sold — and project success.

The project resulted in more efficient use of Taguig’s budget, saving PHP 800 (US$ 15) per cubic feet.

As the number of dump trucks dropped from four in 2012 to one per day in 2013, just a year after the project began, hauling expenses were similarly slashed by three-fourths, from PHP 7.3 million (US$ 141,200), to PHP 1.825 million (US$ 35,300) per year.

Today, 95 per cent of Taguig’s households segregate their waste before it is collected. The city is now clean and free of litter, and has shown remarkable progress in the fight against waste.

It was recognised as the ‘cleanest barangay in metro Manila’ in terms of solid waste management (SWM) in 2015.

...the world's first NBA Cafe

World’s first NBA Cafe to open in Manila
            

(hilstar.com

April 25, 2014

MANILA, Philippines – The National Basketball Association (NBA) on Friday announced that the first NBA Cafe in the world will officially open on April 25 at the SM Aura at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

NBA Cafe Manila is a first-of-its-kind NBA destination that features a unique dining and entertainment experience that captures the energy and feel of the NBA. Managed and operated locally by Haute Couture F&B Concepts, Inc., NBA Cafe Manila will feature larger than life NBA displays, unique memorabilia, and basketball-themed accents and fixtures, all complemented with an exciting menu.

It is the first sports bar and restaurant in Manila catering specifically to basketball fans where patrons will enjoy quintessential American bar and grill favorites.

“Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines and it makes sense that the first NBA Cafe anywhere in the world would open for our passionate fans in Manila,” said Carlo Singson, NBA Country Manager, Philippines.

“NBA Cafe Manila is a unique one-stop destination for casual and avid sports fans alike and is another great way for them to experience the NBA first-hand,” Singson added.

Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz and WNBA Legend Tina Thompson will be the featured guests at the grand opening of NBA Cafe Manila. Hayward was selected 9th overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2010 NBA Draft and Thompson was a four-time WNBA champion, nine-time WNBA All-Star, and was the first-ever draft pick in WNBA history.

Gordon and Thompson will also be in Manila to participate in the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Philippines 2014 National Training Camp presented by Alaska.

NBA Cafe Manila’s menu is inspired by classic American cuisine, offering a wide selection of dishes with an emphasis on nutrition and flavor. Only the finest products and ingredients are used, and the top priority is having the food prepared and served promptly by skilled chefs and servers.

“The concept of NBA Cafe Manila takes all aspects of the NBA into play,” said Nian Rigor, Assistant Vice President, NBA Cafe Manila/Haute Couture F&B Concepts, Inc. “From the team visuals to the use of the colors red, white and blue, everything will make our fans feel right at home with the authentic NBA surroundings we’ve recreated. NBA Cafe Manila will be the metro’s default destination for all things sports, all things NBA, providing fans with the ultimate sports, entertainment and dining experience.”

...the Asia's first NBA Cafe

Asia's first NBA Café to open in Bonifacio Global City

May 6, 2013

GMA News

 

The first NBA Café in Asia will be located in the soon-to-open SM AURA Mall in Bonifacio Global City, according to the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the cafe's manager Hoopla Inc. on Monday.

This is the second league-owned restaurant set to open outside the U.S.; an NBA Café will also open in Madrid this year.

Scheduled to open here in September, the NBA Café will feature memorabilia displays, NBA highlights and programming, and an NBA retail area. It will also host viewing parties and appearances by NBA talent.

The menu will feature American bar and grill favorites and a selection of Asian-Filipino classics.

NBA legend Muggsy Bogues (third from right) dons a hard hat to visit the NBA Café construction site with NBA Asia and Hoopla executives.

 

 

 

NBA legend Muggsy Bogues, who was in the country for the finale of the Jr. NBA program, visited the cafe site.

“This is my first time in the Philippines and I’m overwhelmed by the passion the people have for basketball here,” said Bogues. “NBA Café will be a destination where fans here can watch games in an entertaining atmosphere that captures the history and excitement of the NBA.” — BM, GMA News

...the Chase in Manila

JPMorgan to transfer more operations to Philippines

 

 

Sunstar

Monday, March 25, 2013

THE largest US-based financial holding firm by assets, JPMorgan Chase & Co., will likely transfer more business support functions to its global in-house center (GIC) in Manila in the months ahead, a legislator said on Monday.

“Under tremendous pressure to slash costs, we see JPMorgan moving more business support activities to its back office in Manila over the next 24 months,” said House Deputy Majority Leader Roman Romulo, a supporter of the Philippines’ booming business process outsourcing industry (BPO).

“This augurs well for our fresh college graduates and young professionals looking for gainful outsourcing service jobs,” Romulo said.

Romulo’s congressional district of Pasig City is home to 16 Philippine Economic Zone Authority-registered information technology (IT) parks that in turn host a growing number of BPO firms.

New York-based JPMorgan earlier bared plans to cut 17,000 jobs in America, or almost seven percent of its 258,965 global workforce by 2014, in a bid to generate at least $1 billion in annual operating cost-savings.

By revenue, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.–Philippine Global Center has emerged as Manila’s largest GIC of a global corporation.

Established in 2005, the center generated almost P10 billion in revenues in 2011, and has a staff of more than 10,000 at The Net Plaza in Taguig City and at The Asiatown IT Park in Cebu City.

The center provides strategic support, including voice-based customer services, to JPMorgan’s various lines of business 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It supports card services, retail financial services (home lending, auto finance, education finance, telephone banking, business banking), and treasury and securities services.

The center also assists in human resources, performance improvement, quality assurance, IT, accounting, account servicing, collections, operations management, project management, and risk and compliance.

Global corporations have aggressively conveyed non-core, labor-intensive and IT-enabled business support jobs to the Philippines, a lower-cost location with ample supply of fluent English-speaking college graduates.

They have either established their own GICs in Manila, or contracted out the jobs to independent multinational BPO providers operating here.

The other GICs in the Philippines include Citigroup Business Process Solutions Pte. Ltd.; Wells Fargo Philippines Solutions Inc.; Bank of America Continuum Philippines Inc.; Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd.; Emerson Electric Asia Ltd.; IBM Daksh Business Process Services Philippines Inc.; IBM Business Services Inc.; IBM Solutions Delivery Inc.; HSBC Electronic Data Processing Philippines Inc.; Shell Shared Services Asia B.V.; Thomson Reuters Corp. Pte. Ltd.; Lexmark Research & Development Corp.; Chartis Technology & Operations Management Corp. Philippines; Manulife Data Services Inc.; and Dell International Services Philippines Inc.

The BPO industry is projected to produce $25 billion in revenues and directly employ 1.3 million Filipinos by 2016.

With a labor force of 780,000, the sector posted $13 billion in revenues in 2012, up by $2 billion, or 18 percent, from $11 billion in 2011.

This year, the industry is expected to generate $16 billion in revenues and add 146,000 full-time jobs, according to the IT and Business Processing Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).

The industry includes contact center services; back offices; medical, legal and other data transcription; animation; software development; engineering design; and digital content.

Romulo is author of the new Personal Data Privacy Act of 2012, which has helped to drive outsourcing to the Philippines. (PR)

 

...the most beautiful hospitals

St. Luke’s one of world’s most beautiful hospitals: website

ABS-CBNnews.com

03/26/2012

 

The patient's room at the presidential suite of SLMC Global City. The suite also has a receiving area, a kitchen, a bathroom and a guest room. Photo from SLMC Global City

MANILA, Philippines – St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) Global City in Taguig is one of the most beautiful hospitals in the world, according to a website.

HealthExecNews.com, which describes itself as “a health care information network and daily publication focusing on trends and issues facing executives working in the health care industry,” ranked St. Luke’s 11th in its list of 25 hospitals.

Hospitals from the United States dominated the list, with Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, California getting the top spot.

Other hospitals in the list are based in Hong Kong, Dubai, Thailand, England, Lebanon, Switzerland, Australia, Panama, and Austria.

“SLMC has received international accreditation and is recognized as one of the best hospitals in Asia and the entire world. As such, it regularly receives patients from around Asia, Micronesia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States,” the website said.

“This hospital holds 650 patient beds, with almost half of those available as fully-furnished, private suites with televisions and other modern conveniences to make every visit as comfortable as possible,” it added.

SLMC Global City, a high-end hospital, opened in January 2010. The first St. Luke’s hospital is located in Quezon City.

Last year, former president-turned-congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was under hospital arrest in SLMC Global City in relation to an electoral sabotage case.

She stayed in the hospital’s lone presidential suite which at the time costs P50,000 a day, or P47,619 for senior citizens.

The amount is more than half the monthly salary of President Benigno Aquino III, which is pegged at over P90,000, excluding taxes.

Arroyo was eventually transferred to Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

...the Pinoy dishes

Son of Prince Charles' wife raves about Pinoy dishes   By Wilma Yamzon The Philippine Star July 24, 2011

Zoom MANILA, Philippines - After eating sisig, kare-kare, adobo and sinigang, the son of the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles, Tom Parker Bowles, raved about Filipino dishes in an article he wrote for a magazine in the United Kingdom. Bowles, food editor of Esquire magazine, visited Manila recently to have a taste of Philippine cuisine. He also dined with former first lady Imelda Marcos who, he said, was “clever, funny, and charming.” In the article titled “Anyone for Filipino?” in Esquire’s Aug. 11, 2011 issue, Parker Bowles talked about dishes he enjoyed in Pampanga and Manila, food ingredients such as sili, bawang, sibuyas, and calamansi, and heirloom recipés. He also gave recipés of Pampanga’s crunchy sisig and Manila’s adobong manok. He also found delight in balut, which most, if not all, foreigners dread eating. “Street food is not a big draw here, certainly when compared to Thailand or Vietnam. But then, there’s balut, the pavement equivalent of Animal Farm, the porno version you saw as a teenager on grainy VHS. It’s a fertilized duck egg, complete with embryo,” he wrote. And finally, there’s lechon, a great shiny roasted pig, he said. “It’s the finest piece of pigskin I’ve ever eaten. One of the best things I’ve ever tried, full stop. It’s a celebratory dish, but also a very traditional one, eaten before the Spaniards arrived.” Parker Bowles also praised Filipino food prepared for him by top chefs such as Claude Tayag, Margarita Fores and Juanita Vazquez. He also toured Market, Market! in Taguig where one can have a taste of food from various regions of the country. And in his tours, culinary masters and historians Joel Binamira, Ivan Henares, and Ivan Man Dy guided him. “Manila’s a city with a pockmarked face and a horrible limp, a place of erroneous preconceptions. But it has a heart of gold,” Parker Bowles concluded.

...the property boom

Philippine property boom seen to continue

By: Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

The local real property sector is expected to maintain its growth trajectory in the coming years, driven by huge demand for traditional office and business process outsourcing space as well as retail establishments.

Rick Santos, chairman and chief executive of real estate advisory firm CB Richard Ellis Philippines, said in a briefing Wednesday that the growth that the Philippines was seeing could not be considered a bubble as there was a lot of real demand and the sector’s fundamentals were very strong.

This up-cycle, he said, could be seen across the Asia-Pacific and not just the Philippines. The country, however, had a huge edge in terms of low lease rates as well as the presence of a strong BPO sector.

“In Hong Kong, we’re seeing record values in real estate. We’re seeing the same thing in China and Singapore. But the Philippines is more cost-effective. There’s a huge demand for office space here. Also, because of the [United States] down-cycle, the Philippines is better positioned to get more BPO business,” Santos explained.

“The local office sector has the best fundamentals, driven by BPO growth. We see office space take-up reaching more than 300,000 square meters this year. This is a huge metric for the Philippines. The country has among the lowest rental rates, the highest yields and the biggest demand. We haven’t seen this kind of demand since the time of President Ramos, pre-financial crisis,” Santos added.

Santos said growth in office space take-up, particularly for BPO operations, was expected to extend beyond Metro Manila. Even within the metropolis, there was a lot of demand for space outside the traditional locations, or the Makati and Ortigas central business districts.

CBRE vice chairman for global corporate services Joey Radovan said that even with rising lease costs, vacancy rates in most locations have plunged to low single-digit levels.

“We’re seeing sustained office demand for both BPO and traditional office space. We’re back to 2007 levels, when we saw the height of the office space take-up,” Radovan said.

In areas such as the Makati and Ortigas CBDs, where monthly rentals rates average P808 and P554.36 per square meter, respectively, Radovan said vacancy rates were down to 4.64 percent and 2.96 percent as of the second quarter, with no new developments in sight.

Quezon City and the Fort Bonifacio area in Taguig City have a huge potential to fill the supply-demand gap, he said.

In Quezon City, while the vacancy rate has gone down to just 2.79 percent at the end of the first half, an additional 105,241 square meters in new space will be completed next year.

In Fort Bonifacio, on the other hand, 198,641 square meters of leasable office space is due for completion within the year, with a number of new developments expected to be finished next year and in 2013.

“On a macroeconomic point of view, this is not a bubble. We’re seeing the start of the up-cycle. There’s real demand. There’s also a lot of potential in the retail and gaming sector,” Santos said.